B17 at KDVT

[ragedracer1977]

Went down to change my oil.  Imagine my happiness when right as I pulled up, I saw a B17 firing up!  Walked out to the edge of the ramp and got some pics and vid of it departing.  I took a trip around the pattern to warm up the oil and and watched it come straight in while I was on downwind.  Then, I got to watch it land again from the edge of the ramp (they were giving rides).  

Can you imagine what it must have been like to see 100's of these fly overhead all at once?

 

[RLCarter]

Round Motors Rock

[EricJ]

I saw it parked there on Friday and saw it flying on Saturday.   Always very cool to see something like that.

[BKlott]

It is always a treat to see these classic aircraft flying. Once had the opportunity to fly the pattern behind a Ford Trimotor. That was fun!

[Seth]

Madras Maiden - one of the flying B-17 survivors.  This B-17 was formerly known as Chuckie prior to its most recent paint job and minor restoration.

http://www.libertyfoundation.org/b17history.html

 

My grandfather flew B-17G’s as party of the 401st BG in Deenthorpe, England during WWII.

I LOVE the B-17.

-Seth

 

 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Seth

[Seth]

If it were not for the rediculous acquisition, operating, and upkeep costs I’d love to own a B-17!!!!  And a Mustang, and a T-6.  The T-6 while not inexpensive is the most reasonable of the heavy rail wheel WWII aircraft to own.  

The liaison warbirds maybe the most inexpensive to own.

 

-Seth

[EricJ]

54 minutes ago, Seth said:

If it were not for the rediculous acquisition, operating, and upkeep costs I’d love to own a B-17!!!!  And a Mustang, and a T-6.  The T-6 while not inexpensive is the most reasonable of the heavy rail wheel WWII aircraft to own.  

The liaison warbirds maybe the most inexpensive to own.

 

-Seth

There's a pretty large flock of Nanchangs and Yaks at Deer Valley that fly together a lot, and a T-34 that sometimes flies with them.   They make a fairly distinct sound so I always know when they're flying when I'm at the hangar, and it's not at all unusual to see them break formation midfield and land sequentially.   They tend to show up for sale around $95k and are apparently not that hard to maintain.   A guy in my hangar row has a Wilga with the same engine, and takes advantage of the local support economy for them. 

So there are ways to do the 'warbird' thing without spending an outrageous amount of money.

[Niko182]

On 11/9/2017 at 11:47 AM, Seth said:

If it were not for the rediculous acquisition, operating, and upkeep costs I’d love to own a B-17!!!!  And a Mustang, and a T-6.  The T-6 while not inexpensive is the most reasonable of the heavy rail wheel WWII aircraft to own.  

The liaison warbirds maybe the most inexpensive to own.

 

-Seth

I think I'd pick up a nice corsair. maybe a FW-190 too, with a p-51 and a p-40. Still  think the FW-190 is one of the best looking planes out there. It would be my first choice.

[ragedracer1977]

The Corsair is my favorite plane of all time.  If I ever strike it rich, I will own one.

[EricJ]

I always thought if I struck it rich and wanted a warbird a T-37 would be a fun choice.